Understanding UDP: Characteristics and Applications

Which two characteristics are associated with UDP sessions?

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a transport layer protocol in computer networks that provides a connectionless and unreliable delivery service.

Here are two characteristics associated with UDP sessions:

1. Connectionless: Unlike TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) which establishes a connection between sender and receiver before transmitting data, UDP is connectionless. It means that UDP does not establish or maintain a session between the sender and receiver. Each UDP packet is independent and treated individually. There is no handshake or acknowledgment process between the communicating parties.

2. Unreliable: UDP does not guarantee the delivery or ordering of packets. Once a UDP packet is sent, it is up to the application to handle any error detection, retransmission, or packet loss. UDP does not incorporate mechanisms for flow control, congestion control, or error recovery. This makes UDP faster and more lightweight than TCP but less reliable.

These characteristics make UDP suitable for applications that require low overhead and can tolerate occasional loss or ordering of packets. Typical use cases for UDP include streaming media, DNS (Domain Name System) resolution, real-time communication (voice/video chat), online gaming, and IoT (Internet of Things) devices.

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